The use of lactone ring-containing and/or lactam ring-containing compounds have wide utility in various industrial and commercial applications, e.g., pharmaceuticals. The desire to quickly and efficiently open lactone-ring containing and/or lactam ring-containing compounds lies in the desire to improve the availability of such opened compounds in any application that requires the use of such compounds as desired components. Additionally, the deprotection of any protecting groups present on a lactone ring-containing and/or lactam ring-containing compound and/or its opened product may in certain instances be desirable from a commercial standpoint.
The use of such compounds as intermediates in the production of renin-inhibitors is a particularly commercially important application.
Renin passes from the kidneys into the blood where it affects the cleavage of angiotensinogen, releasing the decapeptide angiotensin I which is then cleaved in the lungs, the kidneys and other organs to form the octapeptide angiotensin II. The octapeptide increases blood pressure both directly by arterial vasoconstriction and indirectly by liberating from the adrenal glands the sodium-ion-retaining hormone aldosterone, accompanied by an increase in extracellular fluid volume which increase can be attributed to the action of angiotensin II. Inhibitors of the enzymatic activity of renin lead to a reduction in the formation of angiotensin I, and consequently a smaller amount of angiotensin II is produced. The reduced concentration of that active peptide hormone is a direct cause of the hypotensive effect of renin inhibitors.
Various renin inhibitor compounds can interfere with the renin-angiotensin system at the beginning of angiotensin II biosynthesis. Processes for making such renin inhibitor compounds can be timely and costly from a commercial standpoint. There is a continual desire for improvements in processes of making various renin inhibitor compounds, and their useful intermediates, that will reduce time, cost, and improve the efficiency of obtaining pharmaceuticals obtained therefrom.